Workers at The Gabriel Foundation’s offices arrived one day to find an abandoned Cockatoo in a cardboard box taped to the front door.

Unwanted birds have also been found in the foundation’s trash bin, says founder Julie Weiss Murad.

The Gabriel Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the welfare of Parrots and all their exotic cousins – Macaws, Cockatiels and Lovebirds, among others – has found itself at the leading edge of a national problem more often associated with dogs and cats:

Financially strained owners say they can no longer afford to care for them.

But that’s where the similarity with cats and dogs ends, says Murad, who has been around birds more than 40 years.

"The difference is that so many people don’t recognize what is considered appropriate or species-specific care for Parrots," she explains. "And they may be living marginally themselves."Read more…

Fetch takes a topical look at a variety of issues affecting pets, including the latest research results.. It seeks to provide useful information for Colorado pet owners and to spotlight the work of Colorado animal welfare groups.